I do not own Yuri! on Ice, nor do I own Owari no Seraph
I have no beta
This is also being posted on ArchiveofOurOwn
Thank you
A/N: Hey, the revised version is here!
What.
So, personally, I haven't really done the whole revising yet. Help, I'm getting lazy bahsdboHFBocw
Anyway, I have a general idea of where this is going.
We'll find out together, kay?
In a world of continuous chaos and distress, where learning to fight seemed as necessary as eating to survive, it was easy to resort to the only way humanity seemed to understand: fighting one other.
The idea was premeditated, was a floating rumor that had horrified many, but when the tournaments started and when people saw the new form of entertainment, the public opinion changed rapidly.
People crowded the arenas, screamed their lungs out, and for once, it wasn't out of pure terror, nor did it strike fear in the ones around them, instead they were joining in. People began to forget the pain of devastation, began to love the idea of conflict, and began to be, for lack of a better word, distracted.
Every year, however, the competitors got younger and younger, and the few who did survive the last year seldom returned.
There were some who returned, the strongest and the craziest.
One in particular shined above them all, came back every tournament, and left only a trail of red and silver behind them.
Chapter 1: By Nature's Design
Emptiness. The clear consciousness that lingers just before waking is strange for Yuuri, however the sudden unbearable pounding in his head is even stranger, and he hates it even more.
Something starts to titter in his head, and suddenly the sound of his own heart beat in his ears intensifies and every hope of possible peace dies.
"Wake up, wake up." Kiyoshi sings, becoming louder as time passes. Their voice bounces everywhere around him, inside him, and he really hopes that when he meets death, his demon isn't brought along with him as a tied companion.
It takes all his willpower to pry his eyes open, only to immediately squeeze them back shut when a bright light shines above him and makes him feel as though it's shooting arrows straight into his brain.
He has no idea how he got in this predicament, as any form of cohesive thought is weighed down by the last remnants of sleep trying to claw him back under.
It takes a few measly moments of pain to slowly fade and the pound in his head begins to subside with it. He can hear a familiar voice now, one not a tease or within his head.
Worried words accompanied by his name are the first things he can comprehend. Once more he tries to see.
The stab of light is an assault, but he's quick to divert his line of sight and the automatic squint of his eyes keeps the pain at bay long enough for him to recognize tattered walls and half-standing tables with medical supplies perched unceremoniously on their tray. It takes a moment for him to realize he's in a makeshift hospital ward, somewhere seemingly familiar that he's been in more times than he would like to admit and even more times than it says on his file.
Outside movement has his fighting instincts kicking in, but the voice from before and the pain in his limbs keeps him from trying to attack.
He notices one of his best friends' faces, twisted in concern and relief. The sudden overjoyed call of his name is nearly deafening and the crash of the other's body is torture.
"Phichit-kun, Phichit, I can't—" Yuuri gasps out, more like a pitiful wheezing, but thankfully someone else pulls Phichit off of Yuuri's weak body.
"Sorry Yuuri, we've just been waiting for so long." Yuuko says. Finally, Yuuri can see without a head of hair in his vision, and he can see Yuuko's concerned face gazing at him with the care and happiness that she's always seemed capable of.
Of course, Yuuri can also see how relieved Phichit looks, even while being held back by Yuuko.
Yuuri wants to lie and tell his best friends that it's okay, but the opening of his mouth is useless when his throat's dryness barely allows a "fine."
A gentle hand is suddenly placed on his forehead, only to move hair out from his eyes. Mari looks down at him, dark bags under her eyes and that usual headband pulling her hair back.
He responds with a small, apologetic smile, feeling absolutely horrible with the pain he seems to have caused.
"What happened?" He tries to say while he pushes himself into a sitting position. He accepts the glass of liquid that Yuuko holds in front of him with careful and slow hands.
He takes a sip as they exchange a momentary look that seems to convey a whole conversation between them.
Mari looks at him and moves the stray strands of his bangs out of his eyes again, yet they fall right back in the way, "Do you remember anything?" She asks, and her voice carries a lot more worry than he deserves.
A shake of his head is his only answer and he tries to fight the blurry thought as he drinks the last bit of water. Nothing comes to mind except the pressure of anxiety that was holding and pushing him, the rush of adrenaline that was near intoxicating, the scream of battle that was clawing its way through him, and the cries of onlookers that was suffocating. However, nothing makes sense after that, all he remembers is running one second and then pain encased with darkness the next.
"Well…" Yuuko says, looking as uncomfortable as the others, "We don't really know either, but there was a large cloud of black smoke that appeared during the battle."
Phichit barely gives any time for thought before he's sitting down on the side of the creaky bed.
"When it cleared everyone was down, mostly injured." Phichit says slowly, eyes searching for Yuuri's answer or maybe recognition that might make an appearance on his face, but he can't remember anything else.
"More of them were dead, Yuuri." Mari finishes.
He wishes he could ignore the manic laughter that his demon is forcing him to hear.
He begins to remember all the competitors that were supposed to be in that arena, the men and woman who were lined up and ready to put their lives on the line for their countries just for the sake of pride. So many had lost their lives, had suffered something no one probably saw coming yet was expecting, and he cannot even recall what happened to bring upon such casualties.
He has yet to discover who could have died and who survived, and already Kiyoshi is taunting him of thoughts he does not want to accept as his own, thoughts that are hoping for some competitor's survival when all of them should still have had the chance of a fair fight. It was a battle of Possession after all; no factors of Manifestation should have taken place, yet a black fog had taken over and showed itself victorious against the unsuspecting fighters.
"We came as soon as we heard." Yuuko explains, perhaps trying to change the conversation from something so heavy.
All too soon Yuuri feels a familiar sense of hate and Déjà vu.
There's a sudden childish, joyful scream outside the door, and the sound is somewhat of a nice surprise from the ringing in his ears.
"Takeshi is still at the store, so I had to bring the triplets."
The information brings a small smile to his face.
"Yuuri." Yuuko says. The look on his friend's face is uncertain and he knows what's coming next is something he might not approve.
"Yuuri, we want you to take a break from the army." She finally says, and the near pleading expression that she tries to hide behind forced determination is almost enough to shatter the initial argument that flared in his mind.
He can't help how he automatically looks at Mari, wanting to see what she thinks reflected on her face, wanting to see even when he already knows where she stands on these matters.
He knows that he should probably wait until the current trauma had calmed before continuing, as he can only guess that the surviving competitors are probably the ones getting the worst of the suspicions. However, to abandon his post as an officer of the demon army suddenly after the accident, could cause even worse consequences for him and those close to him.
"That's what you want?" He asks finally.
"Only for a short while at least." Yuuko continues, and with her delicate spoken words, she carefully sets a comforting hand on his forearm, "Yuuri, when we found you, your arm was broken."
The untold explanation, "We don't want you to over work yourself" is said through the sadly sweet look on her face, and the words would explain why his arm felt like it was thrown under a falling building when he woke up. However, with the demon contract flowing through his body, and considering that he can already move his fingers with only the slightest hint of trouble, he guesses it won't be long until he can use it like it was never marred in the first place.
He wants to lament to them how unnecessary the idea might be, but a part of him is craves the possibility to be away from all the trauma that being a soldier carries, all the things that he hates as a day to day activity.
"I need to talk with Celestino about this." Yuuri finally says, and the little slump of their shoulders as their relief prevailed over their unease caused a little warmth to take over his sunken heart.
It's been a while since Yuuri has been outside without a soldier's requirements inflicted upon him. He can remember almost feeling grateful that everything compelled him to be distant from the outside world, left him inside a little area where everything was set out for him.
But now that he's outside and sees everything that changed without him, he feels lost and a little left behind.
To see the old buildings once warped and collapsed in ruin, now rebuilt or redefined. To see the once poor crowds that would walk by, barely living, suddenly be full of life and flooding the city streets. He felt that he could stand in the middle of the new side walk and stare for hours, trying to catch up with the shift of things, yet never come to terms with anything around him.
Yuuri feels as though it's been a lifetime since he's been in such a crowd. He almost thinks he's regressing into the time before he ever signed up into the demon army.
If only he could remember where Yuuko's shop was, though.
He remembers passing an old rotten corner shop the last time she was dragging him there. However, when he thought he reached that same corner, there was instead a small gift shop. After that he really began to question his ideas of direction.
He just spent ten minutes on the same street, when he decided he would wait to see if his deductions were correct, as he really didn't want to become anymore lost in the maze of unfamiliar structures.
He's being pushed around by people passing by, clearly knowing where they're headed, when he thinks he spots Yuuko walking out of a shop he's seen about three times now. They suddenly make eye contact and for once since he left the apartment, he's reassured.
He starts making his way towards her, seeing her do the same.
When he hears, "Yuuri," behind him.
He's in the process of turning around, when a hand grabs a hold of his forearm and he turns forward again to see Yuuko pulling him in the direction she had come from.
"You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago." Yuuko says, perhaps unintentionally making Yuuri feel bad for his lack of what seems to be common knowledge.
Yuuri bows his head in shame, saying a brief apology. He tries to listen to the way she easily brushes it off, except he can't help the self-criticism that bubbles in his mind or how his demon echoes it.
It's when the door to the shop closes behind them, that the sounds of the crowd finally dies down and Yuuko's words begin to make sense to him.
"They are such a handful," At this she laughs, and Yuuri laughs a little with her, ashamed that he didn't exactly hear what she was saying.
Thankfully, she doesn't wait for him to say anything that might damage himself anymore, and says, "I'll be right back." Before she disappears behind the counter and into the back room.
Alone, Yuuri finally breathes.
He tries to ignore the swirl of self-hate, and sees that even though the outside of the shop has basically changed entirely, from the inside it is almost exactly how it was when he first saw it. All the furniture is new, but the placements and the weapons on display have barely changed, it may be because people not applying for the army are convinced they won't need to protect themselves.
Yuuri really wonders how people haven't learned yet, the Imperial Demon Army can only do so much.
There's little sound of laughter coming from behind the dark counter, from which Yuuri can see the top of three heads. Before he can say anything, in near perfect sync, the triplet's matching mischievous looks are peering over the wooden top.
"Yuuri! Is it true that you were one of the victims?"
"Do you really not remember anything?"
"Did you see who did it?"
Startled at the continuous stream of questions, Yuuri's back makes collision with the door behind him.
It's undeniable where they got their lively personalities, as they all ask with a certain shine in their eyes that resembles that of their mother. Yuuri just wishes that the three pairs of intent eyes weren't on him.
"Girls!" Yuuko shouts, making an entrance from the back doorway, already apologizing rapidly over them. Behind her follows a laughing Takeshi, who places a box on the counter.
"Sorry, they're still hyped up from the event." She says over their groans.
"They haven't been able to calm down since." Takeshi inputs, shaking his head in affectionate amusement.
Yuuri smiles, still on edge about the verbal attack, but he tries not to let it show as he steps away from the door he fell against. "It's fine." He says, looking away from the happy family, not used to such a domestic scene.
"Do you have what Mari requested?" He asks, a little uncomfortable.
"Oh, right." Yuuko says, before digging into the box that her husband had set on the counter. "Sorry for the wait."
"It's fine." He repeats, "What did she ask for anyway?" He is the tiniest bit curious.
All he knows about the item is that Mari needed him to leave without any previous explanation, before she pushed him out the door and said that it would be a good opportunity to get out anyway.
And while it's true he didn't leave the house for two weeks after moving in with her, he doesn't really see why he has to do her tasks. Of course he would never argue, but he's still annoyed from being stuck on the streets for longer than he wanted.
"She wanted, one second." She says, still digging in the box, however, before she can finish doing either, outside there is a loud banging sound and shouts.
Yuuri doesn't think before he's turning around, throwing the door open, and running outside to see what's happening.
The people are yelling towards something he can't see, and it's only when he's pushing through and trying to get deeper into the chaos that he begins to hear what they're saying.
Many different forms of "Stop it!" with, "Get him!"
It's grating on his ears to have all the screaming around him, but years of something similar makes it close to bearable. However, he could never get used to it.
The anger, the violence, or the uncontrollable consequences. He hates it.
That's why he forces his way into the center.
He probably shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that something had broken through the walls; he should have understood that from the shouts. He is still shocked nonetheless, to see a man pushing another to the concrete, and punching without hesitation.
Yuuri's momentary pause is over when the scene clicks to a clear understanding, and he pushes the rest of the way through in order to pull the attacker off of the other person. It takes less strength than he was anticipating, but it doesn't stop the man from shouting obscene things and attempting to escape Yuuri's hold so he can continue.
The attacker refuses to give up their angry shouts and harsh struggles. Yuuri tries to keep his hold around their arms, but they are certainly determined. "What is going on here?!" Yuuri can barely hear Yuuko's voice over the struggle and the crowd's shouts, which slowly becomes quiet now that the worst of it is over.
"Okay, okay!" They shout after a while, stopping their violent flails enough that Yuuri lets him go, and surprisingly they don't immediately try to attack again.
Free from them in his line of view, Yuuri can see the one victimized being checked on by Yuuko, and by the way their face is splattered with blossoming shades of yellow and blue, Yuuri feels a wave of shame that he had hesitated.
Soon, Yuuko's words of care to the man die down and she asks again, calmer this time, "What happened?"
However, instead of answering with any form of blame, they instead take a moment to wipe off their lip and says, "Nothing."
At this the offender snorts, "Like hell it's nothing. Killers are walking on the streets and he's defending them." The unmarred man yells, already on the cusp of stepping closer to the two of them before he holds himself back and wipes his hands on his pant legs.
Yuuri can hear how Yuuko reacts to the word "Killers", whispering it again and glaring towards the man. Yuuri tries to keep his face tilted away from the scene, catching onto the topic of conversation. He almost wants to slip back into the crowd, but at the same time wants to help get the injured man somewhere safe before there's another fight.
"They are not all killers," The man sitting on the ground says as they rub the blood from their cheek, "they are as much victims as the victimized were."
The moment of holding back is abruptly over, as the man says, "Come here." They go to launch at them again, and Yuuri has to quickly grab him, this time with the help of Takeshi.
"I got him," Takeshi says suddenly, "Help Yuuko."
The quick look in Takeshi's eyes tells Yuuri that this is his chance to escape before any more damage can be dealt, and Yuuri takes it, as he loosens his hold and gives the bulk of the man's force to Takeshi.
By the time he reaches the other two, the crowd around them seems to have finally dispersed back to the normal chaos, which gives Yuuri the first moment to breathe since the one man's proclamation.
He helps Yuuko lift the man onto their feet and they are finally on their way to the shop when the sound of someone getting hit comes from behind them and suddenly the words "I'm not done," are said before Yuuri's shoulder is pulled. The offender stops in their pursuit.
Their eyes widening in realization and filling with reestablished hate.
"Katsuki Yuuri."
Yuuri sees the intent register in their eyes before their fist makes contact.
"It's amazing how obnoxious people are these days." Mari says, tying her patched up scarf around her neck.
With his recent actions still playing in his mind, Yuuri can't find it within himself to stay quiet this time. "I think I can see their reasoning." And he can, he just wishes that they wouldn't continue to surround the apartment building.
He wishes he was strong enough to not enter into a fight when such a fragile opinion is held on soldiers in the first place, but no, of course he had to. Kiyoshi said once that it's in his nature, and he really hoped that weren't the case.
Just another misgiving that he has to accept about himself.
"Tch, as if they need your defending. It's getting on my nerves." Mari sighs tiredly, leaning against the doorframe as Yuuri continues to try and tie his shoes.
"It's almost like someone famous is living here, it's ridiculous." She continues when he doesn't reply.
It takes a while, but when he thinks he's getting the hang of tying the shoes, Mari says "Are you going to tell me what happened yet?" And he ruins his entire progress.
He figures he would have to explain why he came back one day with the remnants of blood and cuts on his shirt, however, he really, foolishly, hoped that he wouldn't have to bother anyone else with his failures.
"What did Yuuko give you?" He asks instead, stubbornly restarting his process.
Once again she sighs, this time more in acquiescence than annoyance, "I'll tell you when later. Now hurry up, the triplets can tie their shows faster." She mocks, turning around and leaving the room before he could have the chance to defend himself, not that he would.
He feels the guilt of withholding the truth from her, but he tries to tell himself that it's because he's weak that he can't stop himself from getting into this sort of trouble, nothing else. And if he did tell her, she would give him that look she always does when she learns something of the like. He doesn't want to hurt her any more than she already has been.
Yuuri hears the front door open and feels a small, cool breeze coming from the adjacent room. He might have ignored the sudden chill if it wasn't for the shocked inhale, and soon followed by rapid foot falls quickly getting louder. While his mind is already set on somehow getting to his sword from the room behind him, it's too late as when he's on the move to get up, a giant brown fluffy creature runs into the hallway and bounces onto his rising form, making him tumble to the floor with a startled oomph.
Of the things he was imagining, looking up to see a large poodle face in front of his own was certainly the farthest of all his thoughts, least of all when they start licking his face. He can't stop himself from laughing at the action and the ridiculousness of the situation.
"Mari?" He says through the laughter, which makes it sound less urgent than he would have preferred, however he really is concerned.
He feels bad when he pushes the cute dog away, but doing so finally lets the adrenaline build up, because, why is there a dog in the apartment? Who is at the door? And why did Mari make that sound?
Immediately, he tries to stand up, only to basically trip over the untied shoes and the dog. "Sorry!" he shouts as he throws himself against the wall and then through the doorway, only to almost fall again what he sees who is standing just outside the front door. Mari looks almost as confused as he feels.
And if everything seems to be working just perfectly for Yuuri today, Victor bloody Nikiforov looks as though he has been having the best month with the way he basically beams, somehow under all the winter gear. Whereas, Yuri Plisetsky looks as though he wants to kill everyone in sight, which, frankly, Yuuri feels he wouldn't mind to be a casualty with the amount of panic and confusion coursing through him at this moment.
"Yuuri!" Victor almost shouts, and Yuuri is not sure how he can respond to hearing his name come from the living legend. "Starting today, I'm going to be fighting alongside you. Let's have some fun, okay?"
If the statement wasn't enough for Yuuri to feel himself short circuit, the god damn wink that followed caused him to have a mental break down.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! And let me know if this is worth continuing, thanks.
Constructive criticism is welcomed.
